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Thursday, February 26, 2026 | Daily Newspaper published by GPPC Doha, Qatar.

Tag Results for "Netanyahu" (2 articles)

US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Monday.  AFP
Region

Trump announces Gaza peace plan, with Netanyahu backing

President Donald Trump unveiled a wide-ranging Gaza peace plan Monday and won backing from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The 20-point plan, which Trump has also circulated to Arab leaders, calls for a ceasefire, release of hostages by Hamas, disarmament of Hamas and gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.Other key points include deployment of a "temporary international stabilisation force" and creation of a transitional authority headed by Trump himself and featuring other foreign leaders.The deal would demand resistance movement Hamas fighters fully disarm and be excluded from future roles in the government. However, those who agreed to "peaceful co-existence" would be given amnesty.Following Israeli withdrawal, the borders would be opened to aid and investment.In a crucial change from Trump's earlier apparent goals, Palestinians will not be forced to leave Gaza and instead, the document said, "we will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza."Netanyahu made clear he was in favour, saying it "achieves our war aims," while Trump said he was hopeful that Hamas would also give its backing.Approval from all sides was "beyond very close," Trump said. Proposal calls for release of hostages within 48 hours of ceasefire.However, many important details remained to be clarified.The US president had met key Arab leaders at the United Nations last week and said Sunday on social media that " all are on board for something special, first time ever".Normally a staunch ally of Netanyahu, the US president has shown increasing signs of frustration ahead of the Israeli premier's fourth White House visit since Trump's return to power.Trump was infuriated by Israel's recent strike on Hamas members in key US ally Qatar.And he warned Netanyahu last week against annexing the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as some of Netanyahu's cabinet members have urged, a move that would seriously complicate the route to Palestinian statehood.Netanyahu's coalition government is propped up by the far-right ministers who oppose a peace deal.Hamas' apparent absence from the negotiations has raised questions about the prospects for the latest initiative.Meanwhile, Israeli strikes continued across the Gaza Strip, killing at least four people in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run territory's civil defense agency.Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza urged Trump to uphold his Gaza proposal.And in Gaza, people expressed a mix of hope, exhaustion and distrust ahead of the White House meeting.Israel's offensive has killed 66,055 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory.

Delegates walk out before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 80th UN General Assembly in New York Friday
Region

Walkouts before Netanyahu UN speech show Israel 'isolation'

Hamas said a mass walkout of delegations before Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the UN Friday showed Israel's "isolation" as a result of the Gaza war."Boycotting Netanyahu's speech is one manifestation of Israel's isolation and the consequences of the war of extermination," Taher al-Nunu, the media adviser to the head of Hamas's political bureau, said in a statement.As the Israeli PM walked up to the General Assembly rostrum, a number of delegations walked out — in a deliberate protest as the Israeli premier was the day's first speaker.Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas's political bureau, said Netanyahu had been left with "nothing but a chorus of cheerleaders who entered the UN hall only to clap in support of genocide".In a statement, Hamas accused Netanyahu of repeating "lies and blatant denial of the genocide, forced displacement and systematic starvation committed by him" and the Israeli military in Gaza."If he truly cared for his captives, he would end the brutal bombing, massacres and destruction of Gaza, but instead, he lies and continues to endanger their lives," the group said, referring to the hostages held by Hamas fighters.During his angry UN address, Netanyahu vowed to block a Palestinian state, accusing European leaders who recently recognised one of rewarding Hamas.Hamas said that the boycott of Netanyahu's speech showed the "growing global solidarity with the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state".A Palestinian foreign ministry official slammed Netanyahu's speech at the UN, saying it was "saturated with lies and falsifications"."It was the speech of a defeated man, a desperate leader who once again tried to rally a West that has increasingly distanced itself from a genocidal state, using fear as his only argument," the director of the ministry's European affairs department, Adel Atieh, told AFP."This speech showed neither vision nor perspective: it only reflected growing isolation, a headlong rush forward and the anxiety of a power that knows it stands on the wrong side of history," he added.Israel's offensive has killed at least 65,549 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the UN considers reliable.Meanwhile, the main Israeli group representing the families of hostages decried Netanyahu's call at the UN Friday to "finish the job" in Gaza, saying it endangered the remaining captives."Every day of continued war puts the living hostages at greater risk...," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement."Time and again, (Netanyahu) has chosen to squander every opportunity to bring them home."US President Donald Trump said he thought he had sealed a deal on a ceasefire after nearly two years of war.